Method and delay circuit with accurately controlled duty cycle

ABSTRACT

A delay locked loop includes a storage element coupled to a data bus and produces a data synchronization signal. A phase detector receives a data clock signal and the data synchronization signal and produces a delay control signal. A first delay circuit produces a signal which is delayed relative to the data clock signal according to the delay control signal. A second delay circuit receiving the delayed signal produces a control signal coupled to a control input of the storage element by delaying the delayed signal an amount which causes the control signal to have a predetermined duty cycle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to optimal use of delay circuitsclocked by “double data rate” clock signals, and more particularly tosystems including circuitry capable of generating double data rate clocksignals that optimally clock data into and out of such delay circuits.The invention also relates to circuitry for automatically correctingduty cycles of clock signals to predetermined duty cycle values.

Double data rate clock signals are used to clock data into and out of acircuit, such as a register, on both the rising edges and the fallingedges of the double data rate clock signals, allowing the use of a clockfrequency that is one half of the data rate, and therefore allowsdoubling the effective bandwidth of the system. It usually is importantthat the duty cycle of high frequency (e.g., several gigahertz) doubledata rate clock signals be precisely 50%, because otherwise, the amountsof time available to accomplish the timing of the clocking or strobingof the data are asymmetrical for the rising and falling edges of theclock. That may cause various kinds of problems, including asymmetricalnoise margins in the timing of various associated digital data signals,which is generally undesirable in very high speed (e.g. severalgigahertz) applications wherein all aspects of the data signal timingaccuracy may be critical.

For example, asymmetric double data rate clock signals cause higher dataerror rates in the digital signal being clocked and limit the maximumspeed of the system clock signal. Because of the usual parametervariations in the inverters of a delay circuit, any variation from theoptimum 50% duty cycle of a double data rate clock signal, wherein thedata is latched on both the rising and falling edges of the double datarate clock signal, is likely to cause an even greater error rate of thedata being clocked through the delay circuit. Therefore, “loose” controlof the duty cycle of a “double data rate” clock usually is notacceptable at high frequencies.

“Prior Art” FIG. 1A shows a typical delay locked loop circuit 1 whichincludes a transmit register 3 that receives the input data signal DATAvia multiconductor input bus 2. The signal DATA is clocked into transmitregister 3 every data time frame by a transmit clock DLYCLK. Thatresults in the signal DATA IN appearing on a multi-conductor bus 4 atthe data input of a receive register 6 a fixed amount of delay timeafter the rising or falling edge of transmit clock DLYCLK. The fixedamount of delay time is equal to the sum of an intrinsic delay throughtransmit register 3 plus the signal propagation time along bus 4 fromthe data output of transmit register 3 to the data input of receiveregister 6, plus the set-up time of receive register 6. Data that hasbeen clocked into receive register 6 by data clock DCLK appears as DATAOUT on multiconductor bus 5.

DATA IN bus 4 includes a synchronization conductor 4A having the sameaverage total propagation delay as the other conductors ofmulti-conductor bus 4. Synchronization conductor 4A conducts asynchronization signal DATA SYNC.

Synchronization conductor 4A provides the synchronization signal DATASYNC to one input of an exclusive OR gate 9, which functions as a phasedetector. The other input of exclusive OR gate 9 receives the data clocksignal DCLK which is also coupled by conductor 8 to the clock input 6Aof receive register 6. Exclusive OR gate 9 produces an output signalDELAY CONTROL on conductor 10, which is connected to a control input ofan adjustable delay circuit 11. Adjustable delay circuit 11 produces adelayed data clock signal DLYCLK on conductor 12. The delayed data clocksignal DLYCLK produced by adjustable delay circuit 11 is coupled byconductor 12 to the clock input 3A of transmit register 3 to function asits transmit clock.

Data clock signal DCLK and delayed data clock signal DLYCLK serve asdouble data rate clock signals as shown in FIG. 1B and require a 50%duty cycle. The various “1”s and “0”s of the input data signal DATA onbus 2 are clocked into transmit register 3 by the rising edge A ofDLYCLK as shown in the timing diagram of FIG. 1B and then appear onmulticonductor bus 4 at the beginning of frame 17 of DATA SYNC onsynchronization conductor 4A. During falling edge B of DLYCLK, thevarious “1”s and “0”s of DATA on bus 2 are clocked into transmitregister 3 and then appear on multiconductor bus 4 at the beginning offrame 18 of DATA SYNC on synchronization conductor 4A. Similarly, thevarious “1”s and “0”s of DATA IN on multiconductor bus 4 are clockedinto receive register 6 by the rising edge C of data clock DCLK and thenappear as DATA OUT on output bus 5, and during falling edge D of DCLKthe various “1”s and “0”s of DATA IN on multiconductor bus 4 are clockedinto receive register 6 and then also appear as DATA OUT on output bus5.

The feedback of the delay locked loop formed of exclusive OR gate 9,adjustable delay circuit 11, and transmit register 3 forces the edges ofDLYCLK to be in quadrature phase locked relationship with the DATA SYNCsignal. The rising and falling edges of clock signal DCLK on conductor 8clock successive bits of DATA IN bus 4 into receive register 6. In orderto compensate for various delays associated with transmit register 3 andmulticonductor bus 4 and also the set-up time of receive register 6, thedelay locked loop adjusts the delay between DCLK and DLYCLK until DCLKand synchronization signal DATA SYNC on conductor 4A are in“quadrature”, i.e. 90 degrees out of phase as shown in the timingdiagram of FIG. 1B.

However, this operation does not ensure a 50% duty cycle of DLYCLK,which functions as the transmit clock of transmit register 3.

Although the data rates of the foregoing signals could be achieved byproviding a clock that has twice the frequency of the signals DATA INand DCLK and by latching DATA IN only on the rising edge of DCLK, thatwould double the bandwidth of the system, which in some cases would beimpractical or disadvantageous.

Thus, there is an unmet need for a double data rate clock signal havinga duty cycle that is not sensitive to changes in integrated circuitprocess parameters and temperature.

There also is an unmet need for a circuit and technique which can beused to automatically correct the duty cycle of high speed signals,including double data rate clock signals.

There also is an unmet need for a circuit and technique for providingthe capability of generating a signal having an arbitrary fixed dutycycle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a double data rateclock signal having a duty cycle that is not sensitive to changes inintegrated circuit process parameters and temperatures.

It is another object of the invention to provide a circuit and techniquewhich can be used to automatically correct the duty cycle signals,including double data rate clock signals.

It is another object of the invention to provide a circuit and techniquefor providing a signal having the capability of generating an arbitraryfixed duty cycle.

Briefly described, and in accordance with one embodiment, the presentinvention provides a delay locked loop that includes a storage element(3) coupled to a data bus (4) and produces a data synchronization signal(DATA SYNC). A phase detector (9) receives a data clock signal (DCLK)and the data synchronization signal and produces a delay control signal(DELAY CONTROL). A first delay circuit (11) produces a signal (DLYCLK)which is delayed relative to the data clock signal according to thedelay control signal. A second delay circuit (20) receiving the delayedsignal produces a control signal (TRCLK) coupled to a control input ofthe storage element by delaying the delayed signal (DLYCLK) an amountwhich causes the control signal (TRCLK) to have a predetermined dutycycle.

In one embodiment, circuitry for establishing and automaticallymaintaining a predetermined duty cycle of a control signal (TRCLK)includes a first storage element (3) having a data input (2), a controlinput (3A), a data output coupled to a first data bus (4), the firstdata bus (4), and a synchronization conductor (4A) conducting a datasynchronization signal (DATA SYNC) that is synchronized with data (DATAIN) on the first data bus (4). A phase detector (9) has a first inputcoupled to receive a data clock signal (DCLK) and a second input coupledto the synchronization conductor (4A) to receive the datasynchronization signal (DATA SYNC). The phase detector (9) produces adelay control signal (DELAY CONTROL) having a value indicative of aphase difference between the data clock signal (DCLK) and the datasynchronization signal (DATA SYNC). A first delay circuit (11) producesa first delayed signal (DLYCLK) which is delayed relative to the dataclock signal (DCLK) by an amount corresponding to a value of the delaycontrol signal (DELAY CONTROL). A second delay circuit (20) has an inputreceiving the first delayed signal (DLYCLK) and also having an output(12A) coupled to the control input (3A) of the first storage element (3)and produces the control signal (TRCLK) by delaying the first delayedsignal (DLYCLK) an amount which causes the control signal (TRCLK) tohave a predetermined duty cycle.

In the described embodiment, the control signal (TRCLK) is a double datarate signal which clocks successive bits of data into the first storageelement (3) in response to rising edges and in response to fallingedges, respectively, of the control signal (TRCLK). The data clocksignal (DCLK) and the data synchronization signal (DATA SYNC) also aredouble data rate signals.

In the described embodiment, the phase detector (9) operates todetermine when the data clock signal (DCLK) and the data synchronizationsignal (DATA SYNC) are at different logic levels. The phase detector (9)includes an exclusive ORing circuit which produces the delay controlsignal (DELAY CONTROL) as a first logic level if the data clock signal(DCLK) and the data synchronization signal (DATA SYNC) are at differentlogic levels and produces the delay control signal (DELAY CONTROL) as asecond logic level if the data clock signal (DCLK) and the datasynchronization signal (DATA SYNC) are at the same logic level. Thefirst data bus (4) is a parallel data bus and wherein a sufficientportion of the synchronization conductor (4A) is physically grouped withother conductors of the first data bus (4) to ensure that the datasynchronization signal (DATA SYNC) is precisely synchronized with thedata (DATA IN) appearing at the input of a second storage element (6).

In the described embodiment, the second delay circuit (20) introduces adelay which causes a delay locked loop including the phase detector (9),the first delay circuit (11), the second delay circuit (20), and thefirst storage element (3) to cause the control signal (TRCLK) to have a50% duty cycle. The second delay circuit (20) includes a third delaycircuit (21) having a first input (12) coupled to receive the firstdelayed signal (DLYCLK), a second input (23), and an output coupled tothe output (12A) of the second delay circuit (20), a filter (25) coupledto filter the control signal (TRCLK) and produce an output signal whichrepresents an average value of the control signal (TRCLK), and anoperational amplifier (27) having a first input coupled to receive theaverage value of the control signal (TRCLK), a reference voltage circuit(31, 32) producing a reference voltage (Vref) on a second input of theoperational amplifier (27), an output of the operational amplifier (27)producing a duty cycle control signal (DTYCTRL) on the second input (23)of the third delay circuit (21).

In the described embodiment, the third delay circuit (21) includescurrent starved inverter circuitry (41, 42) that charges and dischargesa capacitance (C3) to produce a saw-tooth signal (46) havingpositive-going and negative-going half-cycles from which the controlsignal (TRCLK) is derived, and also includes circuitry responsive to theduty cycle control signal (DTYCTRL) to adjust current supplied to thecurrent starved inverter so as to adjust the charging rate of thecapacitance (C3) and thereby correspondingly adjust the duty cycle ofthe control signal (TRCLK) in response to the duty cycle control signal(DTYCTRL). A delay locked loop adjusts the delay of the first delayedsignal (DLYCLK) to achieve a condition wherein amounts of time that thelogic levels of the data synchronization signal (DATA SYNC) and the dataclock signal (DCLK) are equal is precisely equal to amounts of time thatthe logic levels of the data synchronization signal (DATA SYNC) and thedata clock signal (DCLK) are opposite.

In one embodiment, the invention provides a method of establishing andautomatically maintaining a predetermined duty cycle of a control signal(TRCLK) by applying data (DATA) to an input (2) of a first storageelement (3) having a control input (3A) and a data output coupled to afirst data bus (4) and producing a data synchronization signal (DATASYNC) that is synchronized with data (DATA IN) being produced on thefirst data bus (4), providing a data clock signal (DCLK) on a firstinput of a phase detector circuit (9) and applying the datasynchronization signal (DATA SYNC) to a second input of the phasedetector (9) and operating the phase detector (9) to produce a delaycontrol signal (DELAY CONTROL) having a value indicative of a phasedifference between the data clock signal (DCLK) and the datasynchronization signal (DATA SYNC), producing the control signal (TRCLK)by delaying the first delayed signal (DLYCLK) an amount which causes thecontrol signal (TRCLK) to have a predetermined duty cycle, and applyingthe control signal (TRCLK) to the control input (3A) of the firststorage element (3) to cause it to reproduce the data (DATA) on thefirst data bus (4) in synchronization with the data clock signal (DCLK).

In one embodiment, the invention provides circuitry for establishing andautomatically maintaining a predetermined duty cycle of a control signal(TRCLK), including means for applying data (DATA) to an input (2) of afirst storage element (3) having a control input (3A) and a data outputcoupled to a first data bus (4) and producing a data synchronizationsignal (DATA SYNC) that is synchronized with data (DATA IN) beingproduced on the first data bus (4), means for providing a data clocksignal (DCLK) on a first input of a phase detector circuit (9) andapplying the data synchronization signal (DATA SYNC) to a second inputof the phase detector (9) and operating the phase detector (9) toproduce a delay control signal (DELAY CONTROL) having a value indicativeof a phase difference between the data clock signal (DCLK) and the datasynchronization signal (DATA SYNC), means for producing the controlsignal (TRCLK) by delaying the first delayed signal (DLYCLK) an amountwhich causes the control signal (TRCLK) to have a predetermined dutycycle, and means for applying the control signal (TRCLK) to the controlinput (3A) of the first storage element (3) to cause it to reproduce thedata (DATA) on the first data bus (4) in synchronization with the dataclock signal (DCLK).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of a conventional system for using doubledata rate clock signals transmit data from a transmit register to areceive register.

FIG. 1B is a timing diagram showing waveforms useful in explainingoperation of the system shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of the system shown in FIG. 1A furtherincluding a duty cycle adjust circuit in accordance with the presentinvention.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of the closed loop duty cycle adjust circuit20 in FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the delay circuit 21 shown in FIG. 2B.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram useful in explaining operation of the circuitin FIG. 2A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 2A shows a typical delay locked loop circuit 100 which includestransmit register 3 receiving the input data signal DATA viamulticonductor input bus 2. The signal DATA is clocked into transmitregister 3 every data time frame by a transmit clock TRCLK. That resultsin the signal DATA IN appearing on multi-conductor bus 4 at the datainput of receive register 6 a fixed amount of delay time after therising or falling edge of transmit clock TRCLK. The fixed amount ofdelay time is equal to the sum of the intrinsic delay through transmitregister 3 plus the signal propagation time along bus 4 from the dataoutput of transmit register 3 to the data input of receive register 6,plus the set-up time of receive register 6. Data that has been clockedinto receive register 6 by data clock DCLK appears as DATA OUT onmulticonductor bus 5.

DATA IN bus 4 includes synchronization conductor 4A having precisely thesame average total propagation delay as the other conductors ofmulti-conductor bus 4. Synchronization conductor 4A providessynchronization signal DATA SYNC to one input of exclusive OR gate 9,which functions as a phase detector. The other input of exclusive ORgate 9 receives data clock signal DCLK which is also connected byconductor 8 to the clock input 6A of receive register 6. Exclusive ORgate 9 produces output signal DELAY CONTROL on conductor 10, which isconnected to the control input of adjustable delay circuit 11. (By wayof definition, an exclusive OR circuit and an exclusive NOR circuit bothare considered to perform an “exclusive ORing” function.)

In effect, the amount of time that the logic levels of DATA SYNC andDCLK are different is determined by exclusive OR gate 9 in order toproduce DELAY CONTROL on conductor 10. Adjustable delay circuit 11produces a delayed data clock signal DLYCLK on conductor 12. That signalprobably will not have a 50% duty cycle, due to various parasiticeffects in adjustable delay circuit 11.

The delayed data clock signal DLYCLK produced on conductor 12 byadjustable delay circuit 11 is, in accordance with the presentinvention, coupled to the input of a duty cycle adjust circuit 20 (shownin detail in FIG. 2B). Duty cycle adjust circuit 20 corrects the dutycycle to a predetermined value, for example, 50%. A bias control voltage24 connected to duty cycle adjust circuit 20 establishes the biascurrent therein. Duty cycle adjust circuit 20 establishes apredetermined delay between its input signal DLYCLK on conductor 12 andits output signal TRCLK on conductor 12A. TRCLK is coupled to the clockinput 3A of transmit register 3 and functions as its transmit clock.Thus, delay locked circuit 100 of FIG. 2A inserts duty cycle adjustcircuit 20 between the output 12 of adjustable delay circuit 11 and theclock input 3A of transmit register 3. The duty cycle of TRCLK isadjusted by duty cycle adjust circuit 20 to a predetermined value, forexample 50%, in the case of double data rate clock signals.

Data clock signal DCLK and transmit clock signal TRCLK serve as doubledata rate signals, generally as explained above with reference to thetiming diagram of FIG. 1B and require a 50% duty cycle. That is, thevarious “1”s and “0”s of DATA on bus 2 are clocked into transmitregister 3 by a rising edge of TRCLK and then appear on multiconductorbus 4 at the beginning of frame 17 of DATA SYNC. During the next fallingedge of TRCLK, the various “1”s and “0”s of DATA on bus 2 are clockedinto transmit register 3 and then appear on multiconductor bus 4 at thebeginning of frame 18. Similarly, the various “1”s and “0”s of DATA INon multiconductor bus 4 are clocked into receive register 6 by the nextrising edge of data clock DCLK and then appear on output bus 5, andduring the next falling edge of DCLK the various “1”s and “0”s of DATAIN on multiconductor bus 4 during the next data frame 18 are clockedinto receive register 6 and then appear on output bus 5.

The feedback of the delay locked loop (formed of exclusive OR gate 9,adjustable delay circuit 11, duty cycle adjust circuit 20, and transmitregister 3) forces the edges of DATA SYNC and DCLK to be phase lockedand in quadrature. The duty cycle of TRCLK is adjusted to a value of 50%by duty cycle adjust circuit 20. The rising and falling edges of clocksignal DCLK on conductor 8 clock successive bits of DATA IN frommulti-conductor bus 4 into receive register 6. In order to compensatefor various delays associated with transmit register 3 andmulticonductor bus 4, the delay locked loop adjusts the delay betweendata clock DCLK on conductor 8 and transmit clock TRCLK produced onconductor 12A until data clock DCLK and the data synchronization signalDATA SYNC are in “quadrature”, i.e. 90 degrees out of phase as shown inthe timing diagram of FIG. 1B. Duty cycle adjust circuit 20 establishesthe duty cycle, e.g., 50%, of transmit clock TRCLK.

It should be appreciated that integrating circuitry (not shown) inadjustable delay circuit 11 for averaging the signal DELAY CONTROL canbe digital or analog. The phase detector output could form a digitalword. For example, adjustable delay circuit 11 could include string ofidentical inverters wherein a digital signal representative of DELAYCONTROL turns various multiplexers on and off, causing the number ofinverters that are operatively connected in sequence in the stringeither to increase or decrease depending on the value of the digitalword. Each increment of delay then could be the delay of onecorresponding inverter in the string.

An input portion (not shown) of adjustable delay circuit 11 has asignificant amount of gain so it can properly respond to loop imbalancerepresented by the signal DELAY CONTROL so as to produce precisely theamount by which DLYCLK should be delayed relative to DCLK in order toobtain the desired transmit clock signal TRCLK. The gain referred to hasto produce very large changes in the delay of adjustable delay circuit11 in response to small changes in DELAY CONTROL in order to achieve ahighly accurate quadrature relationship between DATA SYNC and DCLK.

When adjustable delay circuit 11 receives DELAY CONTROL with an averagevalue that is increased to a level greater than VDD/2, there is acorresponding increase in the amount of delay produced between dataclock signal DCLK and delayed data clock signal DLYCLK by adjustabledelay circuit 11. Conversely, if adjustable delay circuit 11 receivesDELAY CONTROL 12 with an average value decreased to a level less thanVDD/2, there is a corresponding decrease in the amount of delay producedbetween data clock signal DCLK and delayed data clock signal DLYCLK byadjustable delay circuit 11. Thus, when adjustable delay circuit 11receives a signal having an average value greater than VDD/2, its delayis increased. That increase in delay causes transmit clock TRCLK to bedelayed, and that causes DATA IN, and hence DATA SYNC, to be delayed bythe same amount.

The feedback loop of the delay locked loop in FIG. 2A adjusts the delayof TRCLK to achieve a condition wherein the amount of time that thelogic levels of DATA SYNC and DCLK are equal is precisely equal to theamount of time that the logic levels of DATA SYNC and DCLK are opposite,that condition being the quadrature condition referred to herein.

For very high speed applications, the various signals in the circuit ofFIG. 2A preferably are differential signals, but for slower speedapplications some or all of the signals could be single ended.

FIG. 2B shows an implementation of duty cycle controller 20 with itsinput connected to conductor 12 of FIG. 2A and its output connected byconductor 12A to the clock input terminal 3A of transmit register 3.Duty cycle adjust circuit 20 includes a delay circuit 21 which receivesthe delayed data clock signal DLYCLK on conductor 12. The voltage BIASCONTROL on conductor 24 establishes the bias current in delay circuit21. Duty cycle controller 20 produces a duty cycle feedback signalDTYCTRL on conductor 23 which is applied to an input of delay circuit21. The transmit clock signal TRCLK produced on conductor 12A is alsoapplied to the input of a conventional 3-pole low pass filter 25. Theoutput V_(AVE) of filter 25 is connected by conductor 26 to the (+)input of an operational amplifier 27.

The (−) input of operational amplifier 27 is coupled to a referencevoltage Vref which is produced on conductor 30 by a reference voltagedivider circuit including resistors 31 and 32 coupled between VDD andground. If the resistances of resistors 31 and 32 are equal, and if theoutput voltage of filter 25 can range between VDD and ground, then Vrefis equal to VDD/2 and sets the delay of positive and negative“half-cycles” of DLYCLK such that transmit clock TRCLK has a 50% dutycycle. This causes data synchronization signal DATA SYNC to also have a50% duty cycle. (As subsequently explained with reference to FIG. 3,since a delay adjustment is accomplished by means of transistors 41 and42 in FIG. 3 between DLYCLK on conductor 12 and a saw-tooth waveform onconductor 46 in FIG. 3 so as to cause the durations of the rising andfalling edges of the saw-tooth waveform on conductor 46 to be equal,DLYLK can be considered to have asymmetric positive and negative“half-cycles”.)

FIG. 3 shows the circuitry of delay circuit 21 of duty cycle adjustcircuit 20. The voltage BIAS CONTROL on conductor 24 sets the currentproduced by a current source 54 which is connected between VDD and thedrain and gate of a N-channel current mirror control transistor 53, thesource of which is connected to ground. The gate and drain of currentmirror control transistor 53 are connected by conductor 52 to the gateof a N-channel current mirror output transistor 44A, the source of whichis connected to ground. A signal Vcn is produced on conductor 52. Thedrain of current mirror output transistor 44A is connected by conductor36 to the drain and gate of a P-channel transistor 38A, the source ofwhich is connected to VDD. A voltage Vcp is produced on conductor 36 andapplied to the gate of P-channel transistor 38. The sources of P-channeltransistors 37, 38 and 39 are connected to VDD.

The drains of transistors 37, 38, and 39 are connected to the source ofa P-channel transistor 41, the drain of which is connected by conductor46 to the drain of a N-channel transistor 42 and to one terminal of acapacitor C3 and the input of a CMOS inverter 47. The gate of transistor37 receives the duty cycle control feedback signal DTYCTRL produced onconductor 23 by operational amplifier 27 of FIG. 2B. The other terminalof capacitor C3 is connected to ground (or VSS). The gates oftransistors 41 and 42 are connected to conductor 12 to receive thedelayed clock signal DLYCLK from adjustable delay circuit 11. The sourceof transistor 42 is connected to the drains of N-channel transistors 44and 45, the sources of which are connected to ground (or VSS). The gateof transistor 44 is connected by conductor 52 to receive the voltageVcn. The gate of transistor 45 is connected by conductor 12A to the gateof transistor 39 to receive transmit clock TRCLK.

The output of CMOS inverter 47 is connected to the input of a CMOSinverter 49, the output of which is connected to the input of a CMOSinverter 50. The output of CMOS inverter 50 is connected to conductor12A on which transmit clock signal TRCLK is produced.

In FIG. 3, current source 54, transistors 44 and 44A, and transistors 38and 38A conduct fixed currents, with their control electrodes receivingfixed bias voltages. The CMOS inverter 41, 42 is a “current starved”inverter, which controls the charging rate of capacitor C3. Thecircuitry including transistors 37, 38 and 39 perform a “currentstarving” or regulating of current supplied to the current starvedinverter 41, 42 in response to the duty cycle control voltage DTYCTRLproduced by operational amplifier 27 and also in response to transmitclock TRCLK. The current in transistor 44 is set to be equal to the sumof the currents in transistors 37 and 38. The nominal current throughtransistor 37 is equal to the current through transistor 38. If DTYCTRLis equal to Vcp, then the drain currents of transistors 37 and 38 areequal and their sum is equal to the drain current of transistor 44. Ifthe voltage DTYCTRL varies from Vcp, then the sum of the currents intransistors 37 and 38 increases or decreases depending on the polarityof the change of the variation of DTYCTRL from Vcp. The delay controlvoltage DTYCTRL varying from Vcp causes the current of transistor 37 tochange accordingly, which causes the current in transistor 41 to changeaccordingly. The changing current in transistor 41 causes the capacitorcharge rate of capacitor C3 to be either greater than or less than theconstant capacitor discharge rate due to the constant source current oftransistor 42. Thus, the delay control voltage DTYCTRL varying from Vcpchanges the charging rate of capacitor C3 relative to its dischargingrate. This adjusts the duty cycle of the signal on conductor 46.

In response to asymmetric of delay clock DCLK (meaning DCLK has anon-50% duty cycle), the charging rate of capacitor C3 is adjustedasymmetrically so as to compensate and produce a 50% duty cycle of TRCLK. The gains and threshold voltages of CMOS inverters 47, 49, and 50cause a square wave shape of TRCLK on conductor 12A, with steep andequal rising and falling edges.

To adjust the duty cycle, DTYCTRL turns transistor 37 on more or lessstrongly in response to the determination of operational amplifier 27 asto how closely matched the output voltage V_(AVG) of filter 25 is to thethreshold voltage Vref established by voltage divider 29. If transistor37 is turned on less strongly by DTYCTRL, the resulting reduced currentthrough transistor 37 charges capacitor C3 more slowly, increasing theduration of the positive half-cycle associated with TRCLK, andconversely, if transistor 37 is turned on more strongly, then itshortens the charging time of capacitor C3 and decreases the duration ofthe positive half-cycle associated with TRCLK. If DTYCTRL goes lower,that turns P-channel transistor 37 on harder, thereby increasing therate of charging capacitor C3. This decreases the duration of thepositive half-cycle associated with TRCLK.

Transistors 45 and 39 in effect form a CMOS inverter which adds positivefeedback current into the sources of transistors 41 and 42 so as toaccelerate the charging rate of capacitor C3 after the transition ofTRCLK has occurred. Basically, the delay locked loop operates to delaytransmit TRCLK so that it clocks DATA IN onto multi-conductor data bus 4at just the right time so as to allow data clock DCLK to clock DATA INinto receive register with the lowest possibility of digital error.

Low pass filter 25 in FIG. 2B removes any AC components from TRCLK andgenerates an average DC value V_(AVG) on conductor 26. V_(AVG)accurately represents the duty cycle error which needs to be correctedby delay cycle adjust circuit 20 in order to cause TRCLK to have theduty cycle established by Vref. V_(AVG) is applied to the (+) input ofoperational amplifier 27, and therefore V_(AVG) is compared to thereference voltage Vref produced by voltage divider resistors 31 and 32between VDD and ground. If the resistances of resistors 31 and 32 areequal, Vref is equal to VDD/2, which corresponds to a 50% duty cycle ofTRCLK. If the filtered output V_(AVG) on conductor 26 in FIG. 2B is notequal to Vref, then operational amplifier 27 adjusts operation so thatthe duration of the positive half-cycle of TRCLK, as explained above,causes the duty cycle of TRCLK to shift appropriately to cause V_(AVG)to approach VDD/2.

Delay circuit 21 of FIG. 2B thus uses feedback produced by filter 25 andoperational amplifier 27 to precisely control the duty cycle of TRCLK.The feedback circuit operates by determining the average value of theoutput clock waveform TRCLK and comparing it to reference voltage Vref.The signal BIAS CONTROL on conductor 24 controls the current source 54which in turn controls the bias current of delay circuit 21. Thus theduty cycle is set to beDuty Cycle (%)=Vref/(VDD−VSS(or ground))*100.The circuit provides the advantage that the duty cycle of the clock isnot sensitive to changes in process parameters and temperature. Also,the duty cycle of the input data clock DCLK need not be equal to theduty cycle of the output clock TRCLK.

The waveforms in the timing diagram shown in FIG. 4 are useful inunderstanding how the feedback loop in FIG. 2A operates to force the twoinputs DATA SYNC and DCLK to exclusive OR gate 9 to be synchronized andin quadrature relative to each other. Exclusive OR gate 9 causes thesignal DELAY CONTROL on conductor 10 to be at a “1” level if DATA SYNCand DCLK are at different logic levels, and otherwise produces a “0”level on conductor 10. If DATA SYNC and DCLK both have a 50% duty cycle,then the feedback loop causes them to be 90 degrees out of phase, i.e.,in quadrature.

The waveforms of DATA SYNC and DCLK as illustrated in FIG. 4 each have a50% duty cycle. The synchronization signal DATA SYNC on conductor 4Aprecisely represents the timing of the parallel digital signal DATA INon multi-conductor bus 4. Exclusive OR gate 9 is at a low or “0” levelwhenever DATA SYNC and DCLK are at the same logic level and is at a highor “1” level when they are at different logic levels.

In FIG. 4, DATA SYNC and DCLK are illustrated as initially being atdifferent logic levels most of the time, and clearly are not 90 degreesapart in phase, i.e., are not in quadrature. The delay produced byadjustable delay circuit 11 is proportional to the average value of theoutput signal DELAY CONTROL produced by exclusive OR circuit 9. For DATASYNC and DCLK as illustrated in FIG. 4, the delay of DATA SYNC needs tobe increased, so a higher average value of DELAY CONTROL produces moredelay of delayed clock signal DLYCLK relative to clock signal DCLK.

In FIG. 4, DATA SYNC is adjusted by being shifted to the right until theoutput of exclusive OR circuit 9 is at a 50% duty cycle at twice thefrequency of the data clock DCLK. That results in exclusive OR gate 9producing the signal DELAY CONTROL(ADJUSTED) on conductor 10.

It should be appreciated that there may be some applications in whichthe desired duty cycle is different than 50%, although probably not ifit is desired to maintain a quadrature relationship of DATA IN and DCLK.For a particular clock frequency and delay circuit 21, a wide range ofduty cycles is available. The feedback loop can control multiplecascaded delay elements to provide large delays and large delaysensitivity without compromising the accuracy of the duty cycle control.It should be appreciated that the circuit shown in FIG. 2A can be usedto correct any clock signal having an erroneous duty cycle.

Very precise duty cycles of 50% can be obtained at very high data ratesof several gigahertz or more without the need to divide down a higherfrequency clock. Furthermore, multiple delay cells can be connected incascade to obtain larger delays and higher delay sensitivity withoutmultiplying the error in the duty cycle.

While the invention has been described with reference to severalparticular embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able tomake various modifications to the described embodiments of the inventionwithout departing from its true spirit and scope. It is intended thatall elements or steps which are insubstantially different from thoserecited in the claims but perform substantially the same functions,respectively, in substantially the same way to achieve the same resultas what is claimed are within the scope of the invention. For example,in some cases TRCLK might be an analog signal rather than a digitalsignal.

1. A circuitry for establishing and automatically maintaining apredetermined duty cycle of a control signal, comprising: (a) a phasedetector having a first input coupled to receive a data clock signal anda second input coupled to a synchronization conductor to receive a datasynchronization signal, the phase detector producing a delay controlsignal having a value indicative of a phase difference between the dataclock signal and the data synchronization signal; (b) a first delaycircuit for producing a first delayed signal which is delayed relativeto the data clock signal by an amount corresponding to a value of thedelay control signal; and (c) a second delay circuit having an inputreceiving the first delayed signal and also having an output forproducing the control signal by delaying the first delayed signal anamount which causes the control signal to have a predetermined dutycycle; wherein at least one delay circuit includes at least one of acurrent starved inverter circuitry that charges and discharges acapacitance to produce a saw-tooth signal having positive-going andnegative-going half, or includes circuitry responsive to the duty cycleof the control signal for adjusting at least one of charging rate ofcapacitance or adjusting the duty cycle of the control signal.
 2. Thecircuitry for establishing and automatically maintaining a predeterminedduty cycle of the control signal as recited in claim 1 wherein thecontrol signal is a clock signal.
 3. The circuitry for establishing andautomatically maintaining a predetermined duty cycle of the controlsignal as recited in claim 1 wherein the control signal is a digitalsignal.
 4. The circuitry for establishing and automatically maintaininga predetermined duty cycle of the control signal as recited in claim 1wherein a delay locked loop adjusts the delay of the first delayedsignal to achieve a condition wherein amounts of time that the logiclevels of the data synchronization signal and the data clock signal areequal is precisely equal to amounts of time that the logic levels of thedata synchronization signal and the data clock signal are opposite. 5.The circuitry for establishing and automatically maintaining apredetermined duty cycle of the control signal as recited in claim 1wherein the first delay circuit delays the first delayed signal by anamount corresponding to an average value of the delay control signal. 6.The circuitry for establishing and automatically maintaining apredetermined duty cycle of the control signal as recited in claim 1wherein the phase detector operates to determine when the data clocksignal and the data synchronization signal are at different logiclevels.
 7. The circuitry for establishing and automatically maintaininga predetermined duty cycle of the control signal as recited in claim 6wherein the phase detector includes an exclusive ORing circuit whichproduces the delay control signal as a first logic level if the dataclock signal and the data synchronization signal are at different logiclevels and produces the delay control signal as a second logic level ifthe data clock signal and the data synchronization signal are at thesame logic level.
 8. The circuitry for establishing and automaticallymaintaining a predetermined duty cycle of the control signal as recitedin claim 1 including a first storage element having a data input, acontrol input, a data output coupled to a first data bus, and asynchronization conductor conducting the data synchronization signal insynchronization with data on the first data bus.
 9. The circuitry forestablishing and automatically maintaining a predetermined duty cycle ofthe control signal as recited in claim 8 wherein the first data bus is aparallel data bus and wherein a sufficient portion of thesynchronization conductor is physically grouped with other conductors ofthe first data bus to ensure that the data synchronization signal isprecisely synchronized with the data appearing at the input of a secondstorage element.
 10. The circuitry for establishing and automaticallymaintaining a predetermined duty cycle of the control signal as recitedin claim 8 including a second storage element having a data inputcoupled to the first data bus, a clock input coupled to the data clocksignal, and a data output coupled to a second data bus.
 11. Thecircuitry for establishing and automatically previously a predeterminedduty cycle of the control signal as recited in claim 8 wherein thesecond delay circuit introduces a delay which causes a delay locked loopincluding the phase detector, the first delay circuit, the second delaycircuit, and the first storage element to cause the control signal tohave a 50% duty cycle.
 12. The circuitry for establishing andautomatically maintaining a predetermined duty cycle of the controlsignal as recited in claim 11 wherein the second delay circuit includesa third delay circuit having a first input coupled to receive the firstdelayed signal, a second input, and an output coupled to the output ofthe second delay circuit, a filter coupled to filter the control signaland produce an output signal which represents an average value of thecontrol signal, and an operational amplifier having a first inputcoupled to receive the average value of the control signal, a referencevoltage circuit producing a reference voltage on a second input of theoperational amplifier, an output of the operational amplifier producinga duty cycle control signal on the second input of the third delaycircuit.
 13. The circuitry for establishing and automaticallymaintaining a predetermined duty cycle of the control signal as recitedin claim 12 wherein the filter is a 3 pole low pass filter.
 14. Thecircuitry for establishing and automatically maintaining a predeterminedduty cycle of the control signal as recited in claim 8 wherein thecontrol signal is a double data rate signal which clocks successive bitsof data into the first storage element in response to rising edges andin response to falling edges, respectively, of the control signal. 15.The circuitry for establishing and automatically maintaining apredetermined duty cycle of the control signal as recited in claim 14wherein the data clock signal and the data synchronization signal aredouble data rate signals.
 16. Circuitry for establishing andautomatically maintaining a predetermined duty cycle of the controlsignal, comprising: (a) means for providing a data clock signal on afirst input of a phase detector circuit and applying a datasynchronization signal to a second input of the phase detector circuitand operating the phase detector circuit to produce a delay controlsignal having a value indicative of a phase difference between the dataclock signal and the data synchronization signal; (b) means forproducing a delayed clock signal by delaying the data clock signal inresponse to the delay control signal; and (c) means for producing thecontrol signal by delaying the first delayed signal an amount whichcauses the control signal to have a predetermined duty cycle, wherein atleast one delay circuit includes at least one of a current starvedinverter circuitry that charges and discharges a capacitance to producea saw-tooth signal having positive-going and negative-going half, orincludes circuitry responsive to the duty cycle of the control signalfor adjusting at least one of charging rate of capacitance or adjustingthe duty cycle of the control signal.
 17. A method of establishing andautomatically maintaining a predetermined duty cycle of a controlsignal, the method comprising: (a) providing a data clock signal on afirst input of a phase detector circuit and applying a datasynchronization signal to a second input of the phase detector circuitand operating the phase detector circuit to produce a delay controlsignal having a value indicative of a phase difference between the dataclock signal and the data synchronization signal; (b) producing adelayed clock signal by delaying the data clock signal in response tothe delay control signal; and (c) producing the control signal bydelaying the first delayed signal an amount which causes the controlsignal to have a predetermined duty cycle, wherein at least one delaycircuit includes at least one of a current starved inverter circuitrythat charges and discharges a capacitance to produce a saw-tooth signalhaving positive-going and negative-going half, or includes circuitryresponsive to the duty cycle of the control signal for adjusting atleast one of charging rate of capacitance or adjusting the duty cycle ofthe control signal.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein step (c) includesproducing the first delayed signal so it is delayed relative to the dataclock signal by an amount corresponding to an average value of the delaycontrol signal.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein step (b) includesintegrating the delay control signal to produce the average value.